So its been a while...

So its been a while. Not a lot has happened, pretty much the same old everyday stuff, but I have a feeling a lot is going to change in the next few days if all goes accordingly. A well needed change of scenery, not in the literal sense but in a figurative sense. Somethings just need to disappear for you to really and truly gain closure. As the old saying goes; "out of sight, out of mind.", but I'm pretty sure it won't be totally erased from my thoughts. The thing, or more specifically; person, has been a big part of my day to day life for the past few months. And sure, one could say that a few months is not a lot of time at all, but in this sense, those few months felt like a lifetime. Or at least a couple of years if you don't want to sound overly dramatic. Its one of the great tragedies of life, something always changes, for better or worse, they always do. We just need to take the changes in stride and keep living our lives. A friend once asked me, in regarding relationships, what does forever mean? In a literal definition it means "for all future time", but in this case I believe its more appropriate to define 'forever' as "something that can adapt to the changes and challenges that it faces.". Another much overused cliche of a phrase; "every end is a new beginning" seems quite fitting. As much as I'd like to believe my wishful thinking will become a reality in the near future, I've pretty much conceded to the fact that it is out of my hands and that its all up to fate from this point on. If anything happens then so be it, if nothing happens, again, so be it. As for now, I have a job to do and now its time for me to return to the path, out of the foliage of the path not taken. 

Thought of the day: "C'est la vie."

Song of the day: "Delicate" - Damien Rice

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Consternation...

Just a quick one here. Today was a rather interesting one. Some positives and some negatives but overall mostly positives. Firstly, a couple of mates and I went to Taronga Zoo today. Even though it was a zoo, and at times the smell was unholy, good times were had. Pictures to come in a later post. Now, I'm usually a punctual guy, so as planned the previous night, I awoke at around 5:30am, showered and got ready and headed to our rendezvous point, Chris' house at around 6:15am-ish. Only to find that my two mates who planned this excursion didn't come until 7am. Twas not so bad, gave me a chance to grab a quick bite to eat. So we ventured to the city and then to Taronga Zoo. About halfway through the day, my housemate happens to call me. I figured he ran out of cigs and wanted to take some from me, but then came that question; "Where are you?". Now I saw no reason not to be honest so I told him I was in the city with some mates. At that point, which was a big over-reaction from his part, he started to scold & curse me for not inviting him. Well firstly, I was not the person organizing our little excursion. And I for one, thinks it is quite rude to invite someone to join you without consulting with the planner. Its like going clubbing and bring someone along without telling the others involved. And it would be an inconvenience for me as I would end up paying for all of his stuff, food, drink, admission and everything else. At that point it's too late to do anything about it, so we just went along with our day out. Unfortunately, things took a more sour note when we arrived back home. Now a little backstory. Last Friday, a couple of us decided to go clubbing in the city. Again, I was not the one to plan this. But upon receiving our invitation, we were told not to let said housemate know. Firstly, again, he will be an inconvenience because other people would end up paying for his good time. Secondly, he is a mean drunk. All brain function ceases after a few drinks. He will end up doing stupid and irrational things. Back to the story, he somehow found out about our little clubbing excursion and is holding grudges against several of my mates and myself included. Frankly, I'm just going to give him a few days to cool off, since he's pointing needless blame at my mates and I. So yes, I've now come to the end of my rant. Taronga Zoo post should be next, we'll see how things go.

Thought of the day: "Exhausted."

Song of the day: "Talk Like That" - The Presets

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Feeling Interminable...

Feeling interminable. Calendar word meaning seeming to have no end. And unfortunately, thats what this past week has felt like. Maybe its the constant dull and gray weather which has become rather monotonous lately. Awaking to the same sun-less, wet and cold. Granted it was a welcome change from the scorching heat-wave we had the previous week, but I have to admit that being idle has gotten me slightly disenchanted. At the moment, I'm really miss flying. Seems like a lifetime since I was last up in the freedom of the air, by freedom, I mean figuratively speaking, as my fellow pilots would know. For those who don't, it may seem like freedom up there, but it isn't. There is a plethora of rules and procedures which must be followed, and which I respectfully and without hesitation, follow to the word as we all know that they are in place to make flying safe. And I assume we all know that bad things happen when procedure is not followed. 

Valentine's Day was a rather uneventful one for yours truly. Frankly the whole situation between myself and my acquaintance has taken a rather sour turn. We've talked things through and promised each other that it wouldn't be any different from before. Unfortunately, thats easier said than done, and is proving so in the past days. I was invited to a night on the town with a group of mates which also included her, and the whole time I felt like I was a ghost amongst the crowd. Sure I socialized with the others, and I tried my best to socialize with her as well, but for some reason it just felt awkward and wrong. It came to a point where I needed to go aside to clear my head. After a quick smoke, I pretty much lost track of time thinking things through, so badly that a couple of my mates went looking for me. One of them knew what was going on, so we had a quick chat about it and then went back to the group. Once all was said and done, we heading back home. Some of us in a more drunken state than usual. One of those was the girl in question. She was really struggling with it and to be brutally honest, as much as I wanted to, I didn't help her. I couldn't help her. After taking my moment of solitude earlier, I pretty much concluded that it was not the brightest idea that I tagged along that night. So as the rain poured down, and the others scurried for shelter, there I was, lighting a cigarette, sitting on the bench with my beloved trench coat. Some would call me crazy for sitting in the pouring rain, but it felt rather appropriate at the time and I admit it was quite relaxing in the circumstances. So that brings us here, to the present. Hardly a weekend to remember if you were to ask me.

On another note, a mate of mine's brother has just come for a visit. He's a pretty cool guy, so at least that will shake things up a bit. Until next time.

Thought of the day: "Feeling interminable..."

Song of the day: "Hearts On Fire" - Cut Copy

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"Mike Uniform Sierra India Charlie"

Salut mes amis! or for those of the non-french speaking profile, "Hello friends!". Rather Short one today I suppose, just a quick word about my musical tastes and some publicity to some songs that I think deserve it. Well the former of this discussion, my musical tastes are wide and varied. Admittedly, I fall into the "rock" category if one was to take a quick glance at my playlist. But one needs to really look a bit closer to see the wide array of music in there. Tossed in are some old classics such as "Sitting On The Dock Of A Bay" and Percy Sledge's original of "When A Man Loves A Woman". There are of course some cherished pop memories of the 90s. Anyone remember "Chumbawamba"?. The  80s makes a slight comeback, albeit with some rather peculiar songs. Take for example Falco's 1982 hits; 'Der Kommissar' and 'Rock Me Amadeus'. I'm particularly a big fan of "Indie" music but more recently I've delved into the realms of 'House" music. Stuff with catchy beats that make your feet tap and move. Now normally I'd leave the suggesting songs to the "Song of the day" section at the end, but its been a while so here are a bunch of songs I'm very much enjoying for the time being.

"Walking On A Dream" - Empire Of The Sun

"Hold My Hand" - Unkle

"Time To Pretend" - MGMT

"I'm A Man" - Black Strobe

"We Are The People" - Empire Of The Sun

"Sister Self Doubt" - Get Shakes

and this is quite an old song but great nonetheless; "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)" - Modjo.

Thought of the day: "Can't do well when I think you're gonna leave me."

Song(s) of the day: All stated above, but mostly "Walking On A Dream" - Empire Of The Sun

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Part Two: Ties, Shirts & Tees

Its been said that clothes speak an international language. And I have to admit, I'm a bit of a 'fashion whore'. I'd like to think my sense of style is structured along the lines of "smart/casual". None of this tanktops and shorts business for me. Some may think of my dress sense as ostentatious(Calender word meaing: The attempt to attract attention to one's self.), but as I said before in a previous discussion, "dress to impress no one, but to make yourself feel good.". Don't get me wrong by assuming I over dress. You should dress according to the situation at hand. Dressing a full suit in 43 Degree weather is hardly logical. As it happens, a welcome change of weather has arrived. Never before have I been so pleased to look out my window in the morning and see nothing but the grey of Stratus cloud. And the rain it has brought along is also a welcome change. So, in light of the much appreciated change of weather, I thought it'd be fitting to continue our discussion on men's fashion and delve into the realm of ties, shirts and tees. We'll start off with shirts since the selection of the appropriate ties is highly dependent on the choice of shirt.

Shirts are fairly popular choice of attire. They have a wide variety of uses from being cooly casual to upmost formal. However, I feel that properly choosing a shirt can be somewhat of a challenge. I filter it down to two things; cut or fit and style. Now, unfortunately for us chaps, we don't specifically head out to shops to buy clothes. We usually pick up one or two pieces at a time and add them to the wardrobe. Its alright lads, there's no need to be ashamed if you're caught out shopping for clothes. Now the things to look for when buying a shirt is the cut or fit; how the shirt will fit on you, and the style; the pattern or design, fabric and overall look of the shirt. The gist of it is, that the shirt should fit you well, none of this 'over-sized rapper-esque" shirts. Because in all honesty, who really ever looks good wearing a shirt thats two sizes too big for them? As for style or design, I usually prefer simple stripes or a plain clean fabric. Paisley, ala Panic At Disco, only works in certain situations, so if you have more than one Paisley shirt in your wardrobe, I suggest you pick your favorite and burn the rest. Quickly. In the colour department, its mainly up to the user and their own personal tastes. I'd stay away from odd colour shirts though, take for example, bright orange. In the end, they usually just end up looking tacky and cheap. I'd like to think that the purpose of a nice shirt is to look sophisticated, so buying a shirt that makes the wearer look cheap and tacky totally defeats the purpose. On a last note, Pink to not a colour to be afraid of lads. If you lose masculinity like some of us do, you have no reason to fear pink. Pink is a great colour to spice things up.

Ties are highly dependent on the shirt that they're going to be accessorizing. Patterns are everything when it comes to ties. The fabric that they're made of also comes into play, but its not such a determining factor. The simple rule is "Plain Shirt, Busy Tie" & "Busy Shirt, Plain Tie". Busy in this context meaning patterned. There are some exceptions to this rule, some plain shirts look good with plain ties and some busy shirts look good with patterned ties. It all depends on the users sense of personal style. I usually find that a plain black tie, be it normal or skinny, accompanied with a plain white shirt works in almost every situation. I do admit that the favorite of my lot is my Topman Diagonal Black Pink/Fuchsia Striped. It works on pretty much every shirt I own and was a steal for $20 quid. 

Tees on the other hand are something more individual. Tees can go with pretty much everything. Jeans, pants, shorts, you name it. Nowadays, we've seen the emergence of 'vintage tees". Don't get me wrong, I love vintage tees as much as the next bloke, but recently I find that they're just become a tad too common. Call me ostentatious, but you're more likely to stand out wearing a plain tee rather than a vintage one nowadays. Tees are pretty much self explanatory, the only thing I'd like to add is, again lads, stay away from the over-sized. It does not flatter one's appearance one bit. Not at all. 

Now we'll briefly delve into cologne while wrapping up this section of our multiple post discussion. When in comes to the cologne department, most men over do it. Americans(For example) practically spray it on with a crop duster. My rule, nothing above the neck. Three sprays is maximum. Period. 

Just to break from our topic, and being the proud Welshmen that I am, my colour of the day is Scarlet Red in honor of the brilliant performance that Wales showed against Scotland last night. If you're a little lost, its the Six Nations tournament, the sport is rugby, and the final score was 26-13 to the defending Grand Slam champions.

Thought of the day: "Singing in the rain."

Song of the day: "Scarecrow Adams" - Disagree

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Decisions, Decisions...

Hola lads and lasses. Well is that time of year again. The few days leading up to Valentines Day(V-Day). The days I see boyfriends scrambling to the shops to buy the much over-rated bouquet of roses or the slightly expensive, off the shelf chocolates. Now don't think I'm against all things Valentines Day based on my denigrative(Calendar word meaning; to criticize unfairly or disparage.) attack of it. I just think that these days, us chaps face an uphill battle. Unfortunately for us, its getting harder and harder to prove our true feelings of affection without giving in to the commercialization of V-Day. In my mind, popping out to the shops and buying a bouquet of roses, a card maybe, some chocolates or a teddy bear is too easy. Blame my 'hopeless romanticism', but I hardly find that a way to show your true feelings or your true appreciation of your significant other. I'm not saying, don't go out and buy gifts for your loved one, all I'm saying is that its been ingrained into our minds that when V-Day comes around, its time to take out the wallet and purchase those typical Valentines Day gifts. 

I'd much prefer to do something more meaningful than popping to the shops to buy a gift. Its much too easy in my mind. I'd much prefer to make a nice dinner, pop open a bottle of wine and enjoy the company. It doesn't even have to be with someone that you're romantically involved with. Just someone who you can sit down with and have a good conversation. Which brings me to the title of this discussion. Decisions, Decisions. Now to protect the privacy of certain people, I shall use code for the following. Apologies to all for this. I'll refer to myself as the number 'one' and the other person as number 'thirteen'. Alright, lets begin.

So a bit of backstory, 'one' and 'thirteen' were, the best way to say it, lovers in the not too distant past. Unfortunately, things went a bit pear-shaped which has resulted in "one" and "thirteen" being in a rather precarious position. Both of them have feelings for each other, unfortunately timing has proven itself an enemy with 'thirteen' very recently getting out of a long term relationship. In the time being, other situations have also arisen that make things even more complicated. 'One' and 'thirteen' haven't spoken for a period of time now, which is a real shame as before all of this, 'one' and 'thirteen' were very, very close. Now as V-Day' approaches, 'one' is contemplating whether or not to do something. It doesn't have to be fancy, as stated above, dinner and conversation would be more than satisfactory. Ah, decisions, decisions. I guess we shall see over the course of the following days. "Happy Days" as one of my acquaintances would say. 

Thought of the day: "Is there life on Mars?"

Song(s) of the day: "Life on Mars" - David Bowie & "Sparks" - Coldplay

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Have A Drink On Me

If there is one drink that can bring the world together, it'd be a safe bet to say beer is the drink. In fact, beer is the third most popular drink only beaten by the likes of water and tea. Yes, there's nothing like having a few 'brewskies' with the lads and having a laugh. Take for example a friend of mine, she was sharing a bottle with me, and while I took a break from my beloved brew, she read the bottle and asked me "What's 'legger'?". "Its lager dear" was my instantaneous response, only for her to correct me with "Thats what I said, 'layger'. I must admit, one would have had to be present at the table to really appreciate our small conversation but a good laugh was shared by everyone. If you know me personally, you'd think of me, as one of my good friends says, a 'logical' person. Logical in this context, not as in logical thinking, but as being in possession of a wide array of useless general knowledge. So in my true 'logical' manner, lets discuss my beloved brew. 

As I mentioned before, beer is the third most popular drink in the world. Now, there are many different varieties of beer. The most popular being 'Lager' or 'Pale lager'. Good examples of 'Pale Lager' are "Heineken" from The Netherlands and 'Bitburger" from Germany. For those more accustomed to American beers, 'Budweiser' is another good example. I myself subscribe to the more European philosophy of life, with my priorities leading toward wine and women. The latter being, unfortunately, less successful than the former due to what I like to think as "hopeless-romanticism". Anyway, back to the point, and a very short point it was, I prefer European beers compared to their American counterparts. 

I'm not too much a liquor man, even 'liqueurs', which I must state, is totally different from liquor. Liqueurs, being alcoholic drinks flavored with or by fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream, and bottled with added sugar. An perfect example of a liqueur is "Baileys". Liquor on the other hand, is a drinkable liquid containing ethanol, which is produced during the fermentation process. Examples of liquor are Vodka and Whiskey. 

Lately, I've had more time to enjoy life's luxuries. Take for example, lunchtime meals. If a little effort and time is put into this much overlooked daily activity, it can actually be very enjoyable, alone in a street-side cafe or at home with friends or family. As yours truly is living a bachelors life at this current time, a typical enjoyable lunch would consist of a gourmet sandwich; mostly salmon or roast beef topped off with fresh italian bread, a fresh green salad and either a beer or a glass of 'Reisling'; a German variety of white wine most commonly produced in the Rhine valley, although it is produced in many other regions of the world. Yes, I do love my food, food in fact, is a very important part of my life. I prefer white wines during the day, namely because I find red wine to be too 'heavy' for that time of day, its much more suited to dinner meals and other more 'romantic' situations.

On another note, I'd just like to mention a game that one of my friends and fellow bloggers recommended. I haven't had a chance to play it but if you are fans of the documentary "Supersize Me" or the book "Fast Food Nation"(A brilliant read if I must say so myself, you'll never see fast food in the same light after giving this a read.), if you just need something to pass the time give the 'McDonald's Videogame" a spin. Do excuse my lack of knowledge in the field of HTML, the game can be found at: www.mcvideogame.com 

Apologies again for not being able to post a direct link. And on that note, I say "Until next time.".

Thought of the day: "whats 'legger'?"

Song of the day: "Have A Drink On Me" - AC/DC

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The Dreamer Evasive

I admittedly have a passion for fashion. Apologies to all for the highly overused cliche of a idiom. But yes, I do like to believe I have a flair for fashion. I drew inspiration for this topic of conversation from a good friend of mine's blog regarding "personal trademarks". It delves into the area of 'personal style' , by which a person is distinguished by the clothes on their backs. Now there are plethoras; calendar word meaning an abundance of, or an excess of, of different and contrasting opinions regarding said subject. Now I'd like to believe my area of expertise are shoes, shirts, ties, coats or jackets, and of course, sunglasses. On the topic of sunglasses, a good pair of sunglasses should always accentuate the facial features of the wearer. Take for example a person with sharp features. This person will be more suited to bold sunglasses, big frames, with a curved design for example. While say, someone else with a more rounder face with more subtle features would be more suited to a smaller sized lens with straight frames. Take the above as an example. A classic design which has withstood the test of time. Wayfarers have a advantage of being able to fit with almost any facial type. While say, The Aviator, has more difficulty fitting a wide range of faces due to its curved frame and lens design. 

Now due to my satorialist nature, talking about subjects like this comes as second nature. Infact, thinking about it now, this post will most likely result in 'sub-posts', each dealing with different aspects of fashion and 'personal style' or 'personal trademarks'. So now that sunglasses are all said and done, we'll break from the topic of being a regular 'fashionista' as they say and delve into something else. Just a quick mention about one of my design or fashion influences, it comes from a blog called "The Satorialist". Its not filled with many words, mostly pictures of people who the photographer sees has a really cool sense of style. On another note, have a think about one of my favorite sayings; "Dress not to impress, but to make yourself feel good.". Granted, one should obviously dress accordingly to the situation at hand. You'd have to be crazy if you go a job interview wearing flip-flops, board shorts and a tee. My point being, is dress in attire that makes you feel good, feel confident and of course, true to yourself. 

Moving in a completely different direction, fate has not been kind to my beloved technology. It all started with the Windows partition of my laptop deciding to heel over and die. Not too much of a bother as I much prefer to work on my Mac eitherway. Then came the demise of my loyal iPod Touch. Word of advice, Playful little cousins and iPods do not mix. Some fairly innocent horsing around resulted in the destruction of my dear iPod's screen. Instantaneously my flights became a lot more boring. The final, and tragic victim of fate happens to be my camera. Sure it was only a 'point and shoot', but photography is one of my newfound guilty pleasures. Oh, how hard times have befallen me. 

An acquaintance of mine was recently talking to me about the sudden besiegement of snow that has befallen London and other surrounding areas of the United Kingdom. Yours truly, being true to my European roots, had a rather satirical reaction upon hearing the news. I am used to the fact that November to February is the typical winter season. Unfortunately, being located on the otherside of the hemisphere has resulted in Winter being replaced by a rather harsh and hot Summer. Though I have some comfort in the hours of the evening. Now as this has turned out to be a very long post, I shall conclude 'Part One' of the discussion. 

Until next time.

Thought of the day: "Pushing towards cooler pastures."

Song of the day: "Fall Into Place" - Apartment

RockPaperScissors

Gloomy Sundays & Melancholy Mondays

First, welcome to RockPaperScissors, the satirical day to day views of a guitar touting pilot. In line with true satirical fashion, and also due to some recent events regarding yours truly, let me begin with the irony and beguile; calender word meaning to charm or enchant in deceptive ways, of cigarettes. Now don't get me wrong, smoking IS bad for one's health, and I admittedly am a hypocrite when it comes to this subject. 

You see that pack of virginia killing sticks at the edge of the table? All you need to know about life is retained within those four walls. You will notice that one of your personalities is seduced by the illusions of grander, the shimmering blue packet, of king sized, with a regal insignia. An attractive implication towards glamour and wealth. A subtle suggestion that cigarettes are indeed your royal and loyal friends. Now that is a lie. Your other personality is trying to draw your attention to the flip-side of the discussion, written in boring, bold, black and white, is a statement that these neat little soldiers of death are in fact trained to kill you. And that my friends is the truth. Oh, beauty is a beguiling call to death and I'm addicted to the sweet pitch of its siren. That which starts sweet ends bitter, and that which starts bitter ends sweet. That my friends is why, in life it is so hard to give something up, even though its not what you originally bargained for.

I apologize for this not being the most uplifting of posts, but a feeling of evanescence; another calendar word meaning 'the event of fading and gradually vanishing from sight', lately has prompted me to start off in such unfashionable fashion. Things will lighten up, you have my word on that.

thought of the day: 'everything but peace of mind'

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[edit] Have a listen to Gloomy Sunday. More popularly known as 'The Hungarian Suicide Song' due to its unsubstantiated urban legends about inspiring countless suicides. A little history about the song, it was written in 1933 by hungarian pianist and composer Rezso Seress. Its about mourning the untimely death of a lover and contemplating suicide. I personally recommend giving Sarah Mclachlan's version a listen. Relax, it will not kill you. 

over and out.

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